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Asian Barred Owlet

Queen of Rajbehra

She is one of the few Tigers I love to shoot and have met her every time I have been to Bandhavgarh. First time I saw her, she was just a few weeks old curious cub who was very attached to her mother and then I have seen her grow up, living separately from mom, missed kill attempts as a youngster and many more.. She is now littered twice and and grown all of them to adulthood. The current litter is 3 males and 1 female and reached a stage where they are ready to separate.. Im hoping, she is ready for her third and we might hear the good news in near future. This is Rajbehra Female and the present queen of Rajbehra, the prime real estate in the Tiger world of Bandhavgarh.

ODKF

Grey Headed Bulbul

Mottled Wood Owl

Yellow Crowned Woodpecker

Yellow-crowned Woodpecker or Maratha Woodpecker– (Dendrocopos mahrattensis) is called Marartha WP because it was first described from this region of South Maharashtra in Central India, and may also be because the red crown of the male resembles the Red “turban” of the Maratha warriors.

Small Blue

ODKF - The Jewel of Konkan

ODKF, The Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca) also known as the Black-backed Kingfisher or Three-toed Kingfisher is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. This is a small, red and yellow kingfisher, averaging 13 cm (5.1 in) in length, yellow underparts with glowing bluish-black upperparts. This is a widespread resident of lowland forest, endemic across much of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The preferred habitat is small streams in densely shaded forests. In the Konkan region of southwest India, it begins to breed with the onset of the Southwest Monsoon in June. The nest is a horizontal tunnel up to a metre in length. The clutch of 4-5 eggs hatches in 9-10 days with both the male and female incubating. The birds fledge after another 9 days and a second brood may be raised if the first fails. The young are fed with geckos, skinks, crabs, snails, frogs, crickets and dragonflies.
Known as the "Jewel of Konkan" as it nests in that region and the sighting is good after the first south west monsoon showers. One needs to travel all the way to the western ghats to capture this tiny jewel and it requires loads of patience and perseverance. We used to wait there from 8AM to 6PM inside our hide with pounding rain, dark clouds and low light conditions. But end of the day, a glimpse of this rainbow coloured beauty would refill our energy levels and make the entire experience very sweet :)

European Roller

White Backed Vulture

Momma and me

This tigress is known as T19 at RTR. When she came and sat in the water, this cub was quickest to get to her. She has three cubs and they are four months old. More pictures with all cubs to follow soon....

Trophy Hunter...

A trophy she stalked, chased and successfully hunted right in front of us.. It was a dream come true to see and record this entire sequence. She just finished killing the wildebeest and getting into position to eat her hard earned meal..

Red-billed Blue Magpie

International Tiger Day

Dominant Male

He ruled the core area in and around Telia for many years, moved to Buffer after MAdhuri made way for her own daughter. They raised one more litter at buffer and Im told Madhuri has new cubs. But our man Waghdoh still looks good and strong.. Long live the king...

Two Brothers

These cubs were waiting for four days at the same place their mom left them. A perfect example of discipline and patience. Mom returned the next day with food and the cubs were content with their tummy full. It was sleep and cozy time there after...

Asian Fairy Bluebird, Male

Blue Throated Blue Flycatcher, Female

Young Sonam..

On my way to Tadoba in about an hour. Looking forward to seeing this Tigress who is a mother now and has three little cuties. Though I did see the last month, did not get an opportunity to photograph the family together..

Leafbird

Ruddy Shellduck

Steppe Eagle

I was lying on the ground and slowly crawling up to get a nice portrait pic of the Eagle.. At one point when It was standing and side ways to me, i tried hurrying up a bit and the noise got the birds attention - I was thinking oh god it will fly away now, but to my surprise it sat down like a duck facing me.. Could not have asked for a better pose :)

Golden Fronted LEafbird

I have been going to Ganeshgudi for many years and this is probably the first time I saw it come down to perch near the bird bath. Though it sat there only for a few seconds, it was enough to make this frame.

Indian Blue Robin

Nilgiri Laughing Thrush

Nilgiri Laughing Thrush, OOTY
Went back the next day and spent two hours despite overcast conditions and poor light. The activity was also less, but this guy came once and perched at a place I was hoping it would

ODKF

Indian Cuckoo

Very elusive as they normally perch very high on the tree and calls from there making it very difficult to spot them. This one gave me a sighting for a few seconds when it came down sheepishly to the water hole to quench its thirst and then sat on the fallen tree for 3-4 seconds.
I love the call of these beauties as it sounds like "One More Bottle".... "One More Bottle"... which by the way is the ringtone on my phone ... LOL

Dream Koel

Asian Koel Female on a dream perch.
Title as suggested by Sai Adikarla
The Asian Koel is a large, long-tailed, cuckoo at 45 cm. Though a very common bird, they are often heard than seen and are very shy.
The male of the nominate race is glossy bluish-black, with a pale green or grey bill, the iris is crimson, and it has grey legs and feet.
The female of the nominate race is brownish on the crown and has rufous streaks on the head. The back, rump and wing coverts are dark brown with white and buff spots. The underparts are whitish, but is heavily striped.
They are very vocal during the breeding season (March to August in South Asia), with a range of different calls. The familiar song of the male is a repeated koo-Ooo. The female makes a shrill kik-kik-kik... call. Calls vary across populations.

Blue Bearded Bee-eater

Tiger

This is Waghdoh Male of Tadoba buffer zone.. He npw lives in buffer zone and become very shy, runs away after he sees a vehicle and difficult to photograph him. I was lucky we could track him down and get a few decent pics.

Pied Kingfisher, Female

Leopard

Paradise Fly-Catcher

Very fortunate to get this beauty up close and in a clean perch.. It was clicked handheld and due to the shade on the branch the shutter dropped to 1/80 - Did not have the time to change any settings then but held by breath to avoid any shake.. was also praying to get atleast one frame in focus :)

Black-Capped Kingfisher

Finally - All the hard work and patience paid off. It was intense test of patience as we had to move very slowly without any movement or noise.. This guy is otherwise very skittish and moves off at the slightest of noise..

White rumped Shama

Verditer Flycatcher

Indian Scimitar Babbler

A dream bird - In my many years of going to Ganeshgudi, got lucky this time with this extremely shy bird, finally !!.. This guy came and sat in the open for a few seconds right in front for a near full frame shot. I wish it did that before taking the dip, but hey, iam not complaining atall :)

Ramp Walk

And what a walk that was.. She walked down the ramp in full elegance, grace, poise and style. The eye contact was mesmerizing and a moment never to be forgotten. This was one of the most memorable sightings in my lifetime....

Morning Glory

Tiger, morning golden light and a yellow grassland... This truly was a dream come true. This was a dream location since I first went to Tadoba 5 years ago. This beautiful lady, known as Choti Tara made a special appearance on my birthday eve.

Malabar Trogon, Male

Common Kingfisher (Common Blue)

Lucky to have got this species (one of my fav) so close and in perfect conditions (Nice light, gerat perch, awesome BG etc., etc).. It was a special moment and opportunity as this guys usually does not let you venture so close... I felt blessed :)

CHE Portrait

Rose-ringed Parakeet

Bamera Male from Bandhavgarh

I was delighted to see him after hearing stories around the fight, his injurues and the territory limitation.. He seems to have recovered well though not 100% yet. We hope he recovers fully and wins back his territory from the new mystery male. There are a bunch of cubs under threat and he needs to provide them protection.

Malabar Trogon, female

Greater Flameback

Appayar Tower Male

Sometimes we do multiple safaris with no sighting and sometime you get a cat this close for 45 minutes with no other vehicles around you. You surely feel blessed when such a thing happens - You are also tensed not to mess it up (technically) as the light is low and you can only get to so much ISO for a sharp enough shutter in the fading light.

Queen from Kabini

Wow, what a day that was and all thanks to Afsar for his skills and experience of tracking a big cat.. No wonder, he is known as the "Billi Catcher" of our leopard capital.
As we entered our designated safari route we saw a herd of deers very alert and both Afsar and I tapped the vehicle for a stop. We then heard the roar of a tiger and knew it was around.. Afsar then asked Khan-bhai (our driver) to go back a little and then we saw a wild boar making funny noises.. These clues for enough for Afsar; and after going back a few more meters, we found this beauty sitting boldly by side of the road barely 15 meters away from the jeep.. Oh boy, what a sighting that was :)

Serpant Eagle

Territory Marking

Spent over an hour photographinc this lovely dominant male of Kabini. He was hiding in the grass for a while then got up and walked up to scent mark this tree and eventually climbed up a high tree to snooze off :)

Happy New Year

Tiger Cubs

Laggar Falcon

Enjoying a hard earned breakfast made of a Spiny-Tailed Lizard. The open ground outside the Tal-Chapar sanctuary is the place where these lizards are found in huge numbers and these raptors feed on them.

Lady on the Prowl..

Rajbehra Cub

One of the Rajbehra cub walked with two others for quite a distance to drink water. They were coming after eating a fresh kill and you can notice blood stains from the kill on his nose and elsewhere on his face. These cubs are about an year old.

Bamera

Had a good time with him as he walked with our vehicle for over 10 minutes... I was glad to see him in good shape and he looked as majestic as ever ; he is recovered well though he is still limping a bit. It was an awesome sighting for sure!

Indian Pitta

Patience paid off, waited for over an hour and finally this guy perched very close to our vehicle and allowed me to make a few images from close distance.The Indian Pitta is a small stubby-tailed bird that is mostly seen on the floor of forests or under dense undergrowth, foraging on insects in leaf litter. It has long, strong legs, a very short tail and stout bill, with a buff coloured crown stripe, black coronal stripes, a thick black eye stripe and white throat and neck. The upperparts are green, with a blue tail, the underparts buff, with bright red on the lower belly and vent...

Tiger closeup

I love this guy - and for multiple reasons; he is super bold and gets very close to your vehicle if he has to cross the road (one example), he has a big territory and is seen at places far from each other, he is always in fights and comes out winner (I have lot of his pics with some injury or other) and most of all his grace and confidence.. He truly is the charming prince of Bandipur :)Edit

The rising star of Mahaman..

Leopard Cub

Morning walk by the lady of the lake

TATR Main road is always full of surprises. We heard alarm calls soon after entering the gate and within few minutes she jumped on the road and walked gracefully for over 2 Kms.. Despite all the vehicle noise behind, she was least bothered and never turned around to check. This behaviour speaks volumes of self confidence and attitude of a Tiger.

Tiger in the Water

This was one of the most memorable sighting in my life as I always dreamt of clicking a Tiger in water and this guy ful-filled that dream at Bur Balle check dam... This one safari we got a Spectacled Cobra, Sloth Bear, Wild Dogs, this big male Tiger and then a Leopard - It was a super treat. Tiger sighting at Kabini is always very special.

White Bellied Woodpecker

Tiger

I saw this male after almost a year.. Very happy to see him again but a bit sad as he was limping due to an injury on his left front leg.. But he was licking it all the time and will recover soon. He was sitting here over 30 minutes and we had to leave him and go as the safari timings were up.
This was clicked in manual mode: F8, 1/800, ISO 200, EV 0 and Auto WB

The Queen of Bandipur

Close up of this gorgeous girl on one beautiful morning.. Posting this amidst rumors that she was killed by another male Tiger in a territorial fight - Not sure if she is no more, but I like to be optimistic to see her in my next trip to Bandipur.

Black Naped Hare

Wild Dog

The magical main road of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve.. I have seen Tiger, Leopard, Sloth Bear and wild dogs right on the main road there.. Here is a Wild dog walking across gracefully.. It was like a fashion parade :)

Pheasant-tailed Jacana

My last sighting of B2

My last sighting of the outstanding Tiger called B2 - I still miss him when I go to Bandhavgarh and into the areas ruled by him !!
One of the two Tigers in India to get "Lifetime Achievement Award" in recognition of his star pulling power in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.He has sired over 35 tigers, 90% of which lived to adulthood, an extraordinary high ratio itself thanks to the protection he has been able to afford his many lovers! The sizable majority of tigers living in Bandhavgarh today are his sons and daughters. As Head of the family business, B2 has been estimated to have earned US$30m over his 7 year reign in the Tala Tourism range.

India's National Bird.

Painted Spur Fowl

Shivaji

This massive hulk is from Kolsa range of Tadoba. Known as Shivaji, he is the un-contested king of Kolsa. He is also a responsible father taking care of two fully grown male cubs of 1.5 years.. Apparently, these two cubs hang out with him all the time while the female cub is her mamma's girl..

Malabar Trogon, Male

Was in Goa for the Diwali weekend and the only species in mind was the Trogan - got up early both days to drive over 100Kms to get to Bondlla WLS. It was tough to trek with the heavy lens and tripod and wait for hours in this hot and humid conditions. Patience paid off and got this guy on a clean perch on day 2 of my trip. The male is usually very shy and I think we were lucky to get this moment though it was backlit and a bit high on the perch. Getting both female and male over this weekend is memorable and surely made my Diwali very colurful and noise free :)

Barking Deer, Male

Finally, managed to get a decent profile shot of this super-shy deer. Barking deer is also known as the Indian Muntjac or the red muntjac, is very shy and barks like a dog when it sees or feels the presence of a predator. It is found in most forests in India across south central and north India.